


the call of the void

by Lycanthrowup



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Character Study, Harriet takes one look at Mike and decides he's her younger brother now, Mike Crew falls into a family dynamic kicking and screaming the entire way, Mike Crew has Manners, Mike has depression whoops, There's probably gonna be depictions of people falling endlessly cause it is the Vast, feat. blowing your inheritance on books, he also has anxiety, i have no sense of tense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:40:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25517428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lycanthrowup/pseuds/Lycanthrowup
Summary: This is how Michael Crew becomes a Fairchild. One day he’s throwing himself off of a building and hoping for relief in any way he can get it and then he’s laying in a mansion's front lawn and staring up into infinity.((Mike Crew- A summer storm, sudden and uncontrollable, the certainty that you have nowhere to hide in the face of something far bigger and more powerful than you.Simon Fairchild- A clear day and an empty sky with nothing to ground you, the idea that you are small and insignificant, a wisp of cloud on a windy day, lost in nothing.Harriet Fairchild- A clear night sky, endless stars, the sudden knowledge that space has depth and that the things you see are so much larger than you could ever imagine.))
Relationships: Michael "Mike" Crew & Harriet Fairchild, Michael "Mike" Crew & Simon Fairchild
Comments: 3
Kudos: 34





	1. Michael Crew, 18 and Overwhelmed

**Author's Note:**

> I don't have a set plot for this. I'm thinking of covering 18, 19, 22, 25 at the very least. I still need to listen to a few episodes to really get my footing for some details so things don't just fall apart. (AKA i listened to Literary Heights after Coming Storm and had Emotions. He was 18 and terrified you guys. The fic.) This was written pretty quickly so there's likely some mistakes. whoops.
> 
> Anyways, some small details: from what i can tell Mike is born sometime in 1980 dedicates himself to the Vast in 1998 and dies in 2017 at age 37. He gets better tho no worries.
> 
> I wrote this on 1 hour and 22 minutes of sleep after a 8.5 hour shift at work. I have no idea if this is cohesive and i'm not about to find out.

He’s 18 when he first meets the Fairchild's. 

He’s 18 and he’s just survived a fall that should’ve killed him. 

He’s 18 and he’s breathless with exhilaration and high on adrenaline.

Simon appears above him after he hits the ground, sprawling, with tears streaming down his face from the wind, looking up into the ancient, withered face of a man.

“Who?” He hadn’t quite managed to get his breath back yet.

“Who, indeed.” The man had chuckled and vanished into the night.

It took Mike hours to move (a combination of the adrenaline crash and the fact that he hadn’t slept in days). The stars, when he woke, were bright and endless, stretching above him like infinity, in a way he doesn’t think he’s ever really  _ seen  _ before. 

When he manages to get up, fighting exhaustion every step of the way, it’s to find himself in the front yard of what could only be a mansion.

Mike had never really been  _ rich _ per say, he had received his parents inheritance and what he could get from the insurance for the house but most of that money went to covering rent for his shitty flat and the books. 

He had no idea where he was or if he could get back. 

He cleared his throat, wiped his face and went to knock on the door. His breath puffed in front of him as he waited, he was sure it had worked. The Vast had to have taken him, otherwise he’d be dead. His memory of the night was already hazy and distant. 

(A small bit of lingering fear in the back of his mind wondered if the creature was really gone.)

A woman answered the door. She was dark skinned and taller than him by a few inches. She had her hair shaved on the sides, the top of it curly and free. She looked like she was in her early to mid 20’s.

“Oh, it’s you. The new kid.” She smiled at him and he wasn’t comforted in the least. 

“Who are you? Where-”

“I’m Harriet. You’re at the Fairchild Mansion. Come on in.”

He did not in fact want to follow her. He did anyways.

She looked at him again, black eyes sparkling like the night sky. 

“You hungry? I think we have pizza leftover.”

“What kind?”

“Some cheese, pepperoni. Nothing fancy.”

“Alright.” He felt exposed, he left his house wearing a jumper and trackie bottoms, he pulled the hood a little closer, trying to cover his scar a bit. 

“You don’t talk much, do you?”

He shrugged, he never knew what to say to people when they asked him that.

The mansion seemed to go on forever, it had an open floor plan, the halls it did have were wide and tall, the kitchen, when they got to it, overlooked a cliff that fell down, down, down, into the ocean below.

The sitting room had floor to ceiling windows and overlooked the same drop. 

Harriet sat the pizza box down on the coffee table.

“Do you want anything to drink?” 

“Water, please.” 

“Sit, I’ll be right back.”

He had no idea how to leave this place. He shifted on his feet, hands tightening on  _ Ex Altiora _ . He’d almost forgotten he still had it. He selected a seat close to the window, a dark grey plush armchair, he pulled his feet up and under himself, his toes had gone numb at some point in all of this. He put the book between his thigh and the armrest.

He felt like crying. 

He grabbed a slice of pizza and ate without tasting it.

“Here.” Harriet placed a glass on the table in front of him.

“Thanks.” 

Harriet stretched, and settled into the chair opposite him, “so, what’s your name?”

He startled, looking down at the book then up at her, “Mike.”

“Well, Mike, welcome home.”

“I- I can’t stay here.”

She smiled at him and he shivered, “I meant it on a… larger scale.” She laughed, “you are welcome to stay here as long and as often as you please, of course. Simon will be back tomorrow morning. You can talk to him about it more then.”

“No, I have to get home.”

She stared at him for a minute, biting her lip.

“Mike, you can’t go back there. Maybe a trip back to get your things but, you need to move.”

Mike frowned glaring up at her, “why’s that?”

“You just jumped off of a building? People will probably be looking for you.”

He paused, his toes were tingling. The cheque he wrote for  _ Ex Altiora _ wouldn’t have gone through and… he wondered if Herbert would call the police. His head hurt.

“Stay for the night, talk to Simon in the morning. We’ll help you find your bearings.” 

He nodded and she handed him his water. 

“I already have a room set up for you. Eat, drink, no rush.”

He drank his water, glass chilling his already cold fingers.

Harriet led him up a grand staircase near the front doors and down a hall, she walked him to the third door and opened it to reveal more floor to window ceilings and a four poster bed.

“Bathrooms connected by that door, there should be a toothbrush and other toiletries if you want to shower.”

“... Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Goodnight, Mike.”

She closed the door and he was alone. He didn’t bother brushing his teeth, dropping into the bed and wiggling under the covers, the second he had the leitner under his pillow and closed his eyes he was gone. 

He dreamt of falling and of wide open sky instead of lightning and pain for the first time in years.

When he woke up he felt like he’d been hit by a bus. He had a hazy recollection of the previous night. He could remember Harriet and the man, Simon presumably. He sat up, running a hand through his hair. His mouth tasted like death.

The ensuite was in fact fully stocked. Once his teeth were brushed he had showered, he hadn’t showered since… since before he bought  _ Ex Altiora. _ He smelt… he smelt bad. His clothes weren’t much better but they were all he had.

Well. That’s what he thought before he walked back out of the bathroom to find some of his  _ actual _ clothes folded neatly on the bed. His old grey jeans and a black wool jumper he’d gotten for his 15th birthday. He tugged the neck up close and folded the sleeves back so they wouldn’t cover his fingers. 

Mike wrapped his arms around his stomach and rocked on his toes. This was going to be awkward. It still hadn’t quite sunk in. What he did. 

He sat on the bed, kicking his heels against the frame and grabbed  _ Ex Altiora _ , flipping it open at random. The lichtenberg figure was new. The thing that tormented him for so long, trapped and gone at last. 

He took a deep breath, fingers trailing over it before closing the book and setting it on the dresser. 

He found Harriet and Simon in the kitchen, sitting at the kitchen island. 

Harriet looked up, smiling as she caught his eye, “Mike, come have some toast.”

“No, thank you. I’m not hungry.”

“Tea, then?”

He hovered at the end of the island, unsure of if he should sit or not.

“Yes, please.”

“Earl grey, chai…” she trailed off, pointing her spoon at the box of tea set on the counter.

He inched closer, grabbed the box and started sifling through it, settling on the earl grey.

“Well, Mike, no need to be so nervous, we don’t bite.” Simon smiled at him, all teeth and no warmth, “we aren’t Avatars of The Hunt after all.” He chuckled, spoon clinking against his tea cup as he stirred it. “I do understand the impulse to  _ hover _ , but please, sit.” He tapped his spoon against the rim of his tea and set it aside.

Mike shivered, shuffling in place, his tea bag held tight in his fingers. Harriet leaned over and whisked it away, tearing the bag open and dumping the bag into a cup.

“Milk or sugar?”

Mike swallowed and sat down in a stool two seats away from Simon, not too close and not too far. He’d get his space without seeming impolite. Or he hoped he would.

“Sugar, please.”

“Well, he has some manners at least.” Simon leaned forward on his bony elbows, hands clasped under his chin. “I’m Simon Fairchild, welcome to my home, Fairchild Manor.” He leaned back, appraising Mike, “you are of course welcome here at any time, as an Avatar of the Vast.”

Mike took a breath, leaning forward against the table as a rush of dizziness overtook him. 

“Hm, yes, it’ll take some getting used to.” Simon sighed, picking up his tea and peering in, “I trust you’ll grow accustomed quick enough given your history.”

Harriet set his tea down in front of him. 

“The only way to get used to it is to jump, really.” She said.

“This is… a lot.” Mike cradled his tea cup in his hands, letting the warmth run through his fingers, “I’m not going to lie about that.”

Harriet hummed, a tiny amused sound, “take your time.”

“But, not too much.” Simon added in, grinning at him. Mike didn’t think Simon had once blinked or looked away from him once.

Mike sipped his tea tentatively. What a bunch of weirdos. 


	2. Mike, 19, unfortunately still a teenager with teenager problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike might be an Avatar for a Fear Entity but he's also just a dumb Teen who is free to be a dumb teen for a bit.
> 
> otherwise known as: Mike goes on a freefall with harriet and ends up a victim of a different kind of vertigo.

He’s 19 to the day when Harriet appears in his room. 

He’s 19 and paper is flying everywhere.

He’s 19 and she’s grabbing his hand and dragging him down into the abyss, waving skydiving tickets in his face.

It’s been 5 months since he pledged himself to The Vast and he’s yet to ease himself into being a proper Avatar.

Harriet it seems, is here to throw him into the deep end.

They end up in a field and he struggles to catch his breath for more than a few reasons. Simon once told him that the old fear would fade and without the creature stalking his steps it’s manageable.

Besides, there’s not even a cloud in the sky.

Harriet nudged his shoulder, “hey, happy birthday.”

Mike rolled his eyes, “how do you even know it’s my birthday.”

“Simon has your file. I think he’s sending in the adoption papers soon.”

Mike groaned. He just wanted to be left alone.

“Okay, I’m not going up with you. You just have to induce fear of some kind.”

“I’m not… I know what I pledged myself to.” He crossed his arms. Mike knows full well what it meant to be an Avatar of The Vast.

“Do you, really?”

He frowned, trying to hide his face in a scarf he did not have time to grab, let alone put on.

“Hey, come on. Let’s go meet the unlucky divers.”

He had never been skydiving. Harriet had set him up to solo with 2 other people. She nudged him towards them with a whispered, “come on, they’re even around your age. Should be easy to freak one out.”

“I’ve never done this before.”

“So? What do _you_ have to be afraid of?”

She had a point.

It wasn’t as if he was scared. Not of hurting someone. Honestly, the fall was an exciting prospect, using his newfound power sounded exciting.

Talking to the two people, a man, and a woman, both around his age and intimidating in a way he did not like? Not exciting. The man smiled at him and Mike could feel his insides twist and his face heat up. Unfairly attractive, he thought.

The next 20 minutes were hell. The ride up was hell, even the sight of the ground falling further away couldn’t quell his nerves whenever this guy even looked at him.

His own fault really. Not like he’s had many friends since Dominic.

They finally, after an infinity, reached the jumping point.

The guy went before him. Had he mentioned his name? He might’ve. Mike wasn’t good with introductions.

The guy turned to him, winning grin on his handsome face, grabbed him by the neck and kissed him, the kiss itself was almost like falling, a swooping sensation in his gut and then he was gone. Leaving Mike dazed.

Harriet wasn’t going to let him live this one down.

He jumped next, sending the woman in the plane a nasty case of vertigo.

Mike didn’t hit the ground. He didn’t let himself hit the ground until he could think straight.

He ended up at the Fairchild manor when he come back down, Harriet waiting.

“Well, certainly gave them both a scare, the girl was crying when she got to the ground and when _you_ failed to show up the boy got worked- wait why are you? Are you blushing?” She peered at him, “you are. You are blushing.” She whispered in wonder.

He covered his face with his hands.

“Stop talking.”

“What happened up there?”

Mike kicked the ground, promptly pulling his feet up and off of it so he could just float.

“Mikey.”

“He kissed me.”

“What!” She had her hands on his shoulders now, eyes alight. “Details kid, I want details. Was it good?”

“I- uh, I don’t know? I guess so?”

“You _guess_ so? Was that your first kiss?”

His face was positively on fire by now. The Desolation would be jealous. He peeked at her through his fingers.

“Oh, it was! What a place to have it too.” She laughed bright and airy.

Mike groaned and fell.

He threw himself into the vast and let himself plummet for the second time that hour.

Mike touched his fingertips to his lips, leaning back so the wind buffeted him.

He hits the ground in his room, on his bed. The papers scatter again. He’ll pick them up later.

He’ll be damned if he let’s Harriet pull him into anything again.

He’s fully capable of becoming a proper Avatar on his own, thank you very much.


	3. Mike Crew, Depressed Idiot.

He’s 20 and starting to get creative with his powers.

He’s 20 and vertigo is one of the best things he’s experimented with. It’s simple, really, but, easy to switch it up.

He’s 20 and watching people put up Christmas lights is one of his current past times.

He doesn't linger too long at any single place. People got suspicious if you lingered. He’d recently gotten a grey suit and has been wearing it almost constably.

He was travelling a lot more recently and the Fairchilds had been giving him space as long as he called on occasion.

He’s 21 when he kills with his powers.

He’s not disturbed by it, obviously. He just hadn’t been expecting the woman to actually jump. It was fascinating, really. He let her fall for an hour before he got bored and let her die.

He’s 22 and free, free, free.

He’s 23 and Simon is sitting with him on The Shard, admiring the dark grey storm clouds as they roll in.

He’s 24 and he’s starting to get bored.

He’s 25 and… he makes a man fall off a ladder.

He’s 26 and he steals a man into the vast unrelenting void and leaves him there and he's still _bored_.

He’s 27 and Simon is telling him that he needs more hobbies. Harriet agrees with him. He tries different activities, but they all seem to fall flat.

He’s 28 and hanging in the sky, bored out of his mind. He feels like he’s done and seen everything the world could possibly offer.

When he told Simon that he had scoffed and patted Mike on the back, eyes twinkling and told him there’s always something new to enjoy, you just have to look harder.

Mike... didn’t agree. The only thing that brought him any joy was actively falling and even that, the rush, and the adrenaline he once felt was fading. There was no danger. No thrill.

He had tried dating when Harriet suggested it. Jude Perry had set him up with someone, but it had backfired spectacularly.

It was like the Vast was inside him, eating him from the inside out. Maybe he wasn’t offering enough so it was taking him instead?

He stared up into the sky, listless and so very _bored_. Maybe he wasn’t enough for The Vast after all.

When he asked Harriet about the all-consuming emptiness, she had frowned at him and pulled him into a hug that he did not return.

He’s 32 when he leaves _Ex Altiora_ behind. He’s aware that Dominic finds it and burns it, but he can’t bring himself to care. It is just a book after all. The creature doesn’t escape, not that it could frighten him now.

He’s 33 and so very _bored_. He joins Harriet on a diving expedition, but he’s always preferred the fall to the unknown. They end up killing their guide in the end. Poor thing ran out of air, always reaching for the moment he’d break water, but never did no matter how close he got.

He’s 37 and he’s waking up in a grave. He vaguely thinks that important life moments just aren’t worth remembering at this point.

The buried keeps him for 2 months before Simon digs him up and out.

They fall as Mike shakes and twitches, gasping for air, a fear settling in him that he hasn’t known since he was 18 years old and trapping a monster in a book. It’s the one thing he’s felt with any clarity since he became an Avatar of The Vast.

Simon’s holding his arm and it’s at once too much and not enough. The hit the ground at the Fairchild Mansion.

“Well, Michael Fairchild-Crew, it seems you’ve gotten yourself in quite the bind.”

He coughs, brushing roughly at his face.

“Come now, child. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

Simon set’s him up in the bathroom attached to his room, washing the dirt from his face before clicking his tongue. “Which power are you planning to get tangled up in next, hm?”

Simon waited for him to open his eyes, “The Slaughter might be good fun.”

Mike grimaced, opening his mouth before closing it again.

“Hm. Good idea.” Simon grunted. “You won’t say anything worth listening to, right now.”

Simon runs the shower and pushes him back into it.

“Can you take it from here or do you need more assistance.”

He glares up at Simon and he can’t decide if he want’s the old man’s presence or not.

He shakes his head, voice still lost to the dirt.

The water is warm enough. It could be hotter, though. He’s so cold. He hasn’t been cold in so long.

He doesn’t wash himself so much as he just let’s the water pour over him, when it gets cold, he reaches for the tap, twists weakly and pulls the towel over to himself. He pat’s his raw skin as dry as possible and falls asleep in the tub.

When he wakes it’s in his old bed in the mansion and he’s wrapped loosely in a silk bathrobe.

He’s cold and afraid for the first time in 19 years.

It feels like a breath of fresh air, It feels like falling.

It feels like coming alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, this didn't end how i was anticipating tbh? Anyways! short character study, idk if it's like... legit in character but i was vibing so.
> 
> That feel when everything you wanted falls short of being amazing.


End file.
